Requests and Ideas
Have an idea for an application using the Yahoo! Media Player that you aren't going to build yourself? Add it to the top of the list. Requests and ideas that are now a reality It's great that there now exists... # A Greasemonkey app which inserted the Yahoo! Media Player Javascript into every page you visit. (Lucas gonze 01:12, 8 November 2007 (UTC)) Outcome: Greasemonkey Yahoo! Player embedder by scotth2469 (posted to the mailing list) # A demo page to demonstrate how this is working. (117.97.46.219 10:40, 9 January 2008 (UTC)) Outcome: User Sites page on the wiki here. # A Wordpress Plugin or Widget which automatically added the Yahoo! Media Player Javascript to whatever template you are using. This would be a lot more practical than modifying every template. (Lucas gonze 01:12, 8 November 2007 (UTC)) Outcome: Yahoo Media Player plugin by Max Engel Embeds the Yahoo! Media Player music plugin into your site to play back media links. It also allows you to input your Amazon Affiliate ID in order to monetize referrals through made the plugin. Lucas gonze 16:51, 31 May 2008 (UTC) # A bookmarklet which inserted the Yahoo! Media Player Javascript into the current page. (Lucas gonze 01:12, 8 November 2007 (UTC)) Outcome: bookmarklet by Stoyan Lucas gonze 16:52, 31 May 2008 (UTC) # A way to suppress the buy button. Add this CSS to your page: #ymwp-buy {display:none !important;} # Ability to play only the link the user clicked on instead of continuing through all. Insert this JavaScript code before the JavaScript link to the Media Player: # OGG & FLAC Support. The player will now render an Ogg Vorbis or Ogg FLAC file if the user has either the Quicktime or WMP plugin and the plugin is able to play these formats. However there is no ogg or flac support with plain old flash. # MULTIPLE PLAYLISTS. Link to multiple external XSPF files using this syntax: . The player playlist tray will have a nested display for each playlist's contents. Open requests and ideas It would be cool if there existed... # Have the audio automatically start. Itlan 21:26, 5 September 2008 (UTC) # Have a way to turn off the "Learn more about this player" link # Have the flyout/popout version of the player go into a 'sized' window so it's not just a huge blank page (firefox/safari OSX) # The player needs a time slider. # A screencast explaining how to embed the player. # Buffering support (controlled by user) # Ability to download all MP3 files in playlist # A page detailing the various style hooks for CSS purposes Laundry List I've just heard that some of these ideas might be addressed by CSS or other work-arounds. Nevertheless, I've retained those requests here, because it would be nice to have simple switches for them. As a coder, I'm more plumber than hydraulics engineer. USABILITY CONCERNS: Despite the simplicity of the inline play buttons (which I love!), I find myself clicking on the link text, which of course uses the browser's default player. I have a hunch this confusion is common (what would Jakob Nielsen say? The dual arrangement is okay for sites where visitors are familiar with this convention, or are fans, but it's an unwelcome surprise for my visitors, who are first-timers who just want to listen to a couple short clips and get on with their business. I've resolved this issue by placing the link text outside the tags and giving the user a link to another page that uses use his or her own player. (I would prefer to do this by using JS on the same page, but am not sure I can. Please see below.) But this has its own problems, including ruining YMP's default to another player in C-grade situations. The flyout happens to obscure important text on the page, that might not have been noticed yet. I realize the flyout can be minimized, but visual clue is so minimal, the user might not notice. The < button at the tip of the console needs to be much larger and higher contrast. Traditionally |< and >| buttons go to the beginning and end of the selection. These go to the preceding and next items in the playlist. If that's the point, I believe the convention is instead to say "Previous" and "Next". (In this situation, you could use "Prev", but it is sometimes interpreted as "preview.") The volume button is easily overlooked by new users, which is ironic. Since play can be stopped and started at the link, the volume button is the #1 need in the console (we've all clicked something with our sound too high). There should be a speaker icon. Ability to play one selection (preferably set by me, not my visitor), then stop. Not everyone wants to hear everything on the page. My visitors may find it confusing or annoying, and if they're satisfied with what they hear in the first clip, there's no reason to encourage hearing the next. (A good salesman knows when to stop talking.) If there's already a way to configure this, I've missed it. I'm not sure everyone will mouseover the "find on page" icon to learn what it is. Not needed on my pages, but I see where it could be useful. OTHER CONCERNS: Considering the foregoing... An tag parameter disabling YMP for that particular link. I want to offer visitors the option of using their browser's own player without (a) sending them to a different page or (b) scads of JavaScript conditionals (which I'm still working on, so I'm not even sure it's possible.). Unfortunately, I know no way to put the "...mediaplayer.yahoo.com/js..." line inside an If statement. One kluge I will try is to put "class='htrack" inside an obscure dummy link, so omitting it from all other links will cause them to be ignored. Even if that works, there must be something better. Apparently using CSS style code to hide a link also hides it from YMP. This could be used as the switch requested above, except that's the situation where I want the link text to appear. Ability to suppress Yahoo Search. I am grateful that YMP is free, but it costs me if visitors are distracted from the content at my site. Besides, the search is often meaningless (if someone is listening to a car commercial I wrote, why would they want to search for "cars"?). That makes us both look kind of lame (and I sure don't want them searching for other "car commercial's!). I currently minimize the impact by 1. putting nothing between the tags (putting the title text outside them) while 2. using only a space for the tag's title parameter. The resulting big blank space is another thing that makes YMP look rough at the edges. I would be pleased to have my title text there, but non-linked. FYI: Being in the advertising business, my need is primarily to play audio (and less often, A/V) of 60-seconds or less. Many of my visitors are advertising art directors using Macs, so I am concerned that YMP gives less than A-grade support for Safari. If there is any glitch, it could be enough for me to look elsewhere. Regarding your other levels of support for various old Windows OS versions and browsers. Are these really due to technical issues, or are you doing a favor for Microsoft? (I can't answer that, can only say how it looks.) I'd have no problem with your making the console's Yahoo logo more contrasty. I hear I could hide it, but you deserve the branding. I'm pleased the YMP works even when the links are written by JavaScript. Since YMP works only when JS is enabled, this lets me incorporate noscript code more easily. However, I think YMP gets confused if the link is not in one write statement, or maybe it's that there cannot be a line break between write statements. (Haven't tested this fully.) While YMP is nice, I could a simpler, smaller console. In fact, since the inline buttons start and stop play, all I really need is a volume button, either next to each or, very small, as an object I can place where I want to on my page (e.g. as small as 100x30, vertical or horizontal). I know this isn't really the YMP concept, but maybe it will help you to know my needs. In short, what I was originally looking for was a universal player that has a *tiny* console (with only start/stop, reset and volume) to embed on my page (sometimes having to fit into a narrow table cell), with a start/stop button for each selection, or html-radio-style buttons to select which title the player should play. I would also hope the visitor could tell the page (which would somehow tell the player) to defer to the browser's own player (or not), simply by the visitor toggling a special link (I'll write my own text to introduce it). 19:49, 24 August 2008 (UTC)